German “bad bank” agencies holding billions of euros of Greek debt have still to decide whether to join a bond swap designed to cut Athens’ refinancing burden as part of an EU bail-out. Two ofthe German banks that are among the country’s largest holders of Greek bonds have also to commit themselves to the €135bn debt swap plan set to be launched next month. The uncertainty over which institutions will support the deal comes as Greece is warning that the swap might not go ahead if fewer than 90 per cent of private investors agree to participate.http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/49eb8d24-d151-11e0-89c0-00144feab49a.html#axzz1WOELnKbv

Solid first-half profits at China’s state-owned oil companies have paved the way for further expansion overseas as the country’s oil needs continue to rise. Sinopec, the world’s second-largest oil refiner, said on Sunday it intended to raise up to Rmb50bn ($7.8bn) through the sale of bonds and convertible bonds to fund projects, boost working capital and pay debts. The instruments will be issued or placed with existing shareholders, Sinopec said. The fundraising plan accompanied the company’s announcement of a 12 per cent rise in net profit, to Rmb41bn, in the first half of the year, beating analysts’ expectations.http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/f72e5cb8-d170-11e0-89c0-00144feab49a.html#axzz1WOELnKbv

Food price inflation looks set to continue as a threat into 2012 as expectations for the US corn harvest, the world’s largest, are being lowered by the week. Analysts and trading executives are cutting estimates of how many bushels each acre will grow as the effects of punishing heat last month result in smaller ears of corn. The private sector estimates are well below already disappointing official forecasts published earlier this month. The US accounts for half the world’s corn exports and the size of the crop has an outsize impact on global prices. Corn is also a critical feeding commodity, so a smaller crop would push prices higher, rapidly translating into more expensive beef, lamb, pork and poultry and thus, higher food inflation.http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/1ae0fdd4-d179-11e0-89c0-00144feab49a.html#axzz1WOELnKbv

Consumers in the developed world are becoming increasingly apathetic about global warming, while Latin Americans– who have suffered much from unusual weather patterns– are becoming more concerned, according to a survey. Nielsen’s global study of online consumers comes as scientists and politicians, among others, debate the role of global warming in the severity ofHurricane Irene, which lashed the American east coast over the weekend. According to the global data and information consultancy’s findings, the US recorded one of the steepest declines in concern about global warming: less than half of Americans polled fret about climate change and only 58 per cent of Brits.http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/9ec3dde6-d17f-11e0-89c0-00144feab49a.html#axzz1WOELnKbv

Wsj.comMost Asian shares were higher Monday after Wall Street rose Friday as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s closely watched speech at Jackson Hole was met with market approval, but the Tokyo market remained hobbled by a firm yen. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average was flat in choppy trade, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 1.3%, South Korea’s Kospi Composite tacked on 1.8% and New Zealand’s NZX-50 was up 0.5%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 16 points in screen trade.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904332804576537342369380496.html?mod=WSJEUROPE_hpp_LEFTTopWhatNews

The race for Japan’s next prime minister has come down to Japan’s trade and industry minister, backed by a powerful political patron, and the understated finance minister, whose impassioned last-minute plea for votes won him a slot in a runoff vote. Trade Minister Banri Kaieda emerged as the top vote-getter in the first round to select the new head of Japan’s ruling Democratic Party of Japan, and therefore next prime minister. But he failed to win an outright majority of the 398 lawmakers eligible to vote, forcing a second round of ballots later Monday afternoon against second-place vote-getting Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda. The DPJ is voting to pick the successor to Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who stepped down as DPJ leader on Friday. The vote comes as the country faces a host of challenges, including reconstruction after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and a historically high yen that threatens to undermine a recovery.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904332804576537460602828904.html?mod=WSJAsia_hpp_LEFTTopStories

The People’s Bank of China will require banks to hold more types of deposits in reserve, effectively tightening credit conditions further, according to a memo from the central bank seen by Dow Jones Newswires. The central bank will require banks to include so-called “margin deposits,” or collateral deposited by customers for letters of credit and other guarantees, in calculating the proportion of deposits that they must put aside for the required reserve ratio, according to the memo circulated within a major domestic bank.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904199404576537342719553086.html?mod=WSJASIA_hpp_LEFTTopWhatNews

After four years of fighting crises and pumping money into the financial system, the world’s central bankers are concluding that the global economy is still in a precarious position and the policy apparatus is ill-equipped to help. The mood here in the Grand Tetons, where central bankers and private economists from around the world gather each August, was distinctly gloomy. Some economists, among them Harvard University’s Kenneth Rogoff, say today’s painfully slow economic growth is the inevitable result of the massive head winds that follow a recession caused by a banking and financial crisis. Government policies, given already heavy burdens of debt on governments in the U.S., Europe and Japan, can’t overcome the relentless efforts of households and banks to reduce their debt loads.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904199404576536192343083636.html?mod=WSJEurope_hpp_LEFTTopStories

“Delay and pray” is not a viable fix for the household sector’s woes. Indeed, it may only be making things worse. In a marked shift from their borrow-and-spend behavior during the boom, U.S. households are now by and large prioritizing saving and debt reduction. On Monday, the Commerce Department is to release July figures likely to show the personal saving rate, or proportion of after-tax monthly income unspent, in the 5% to 5.5% range it has maintained for roughly the past 18 months.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904009304576534712316091984.html?mod=WSJEUROPE_hpp_LEFTTopWhatNews

Hurricane Irene menaced the Eastern seaboard, pounding tens of millions of Americans with wind, rain and floods—but largely sparing New York after an unprecedented shutdown of the largest U.S. city ahead of the massive storm. In New Jersey, the ocean surge and rainfall caused severe inland flooding. Gov. Chris Christie said damages there would total at least $1 billion and could reach “tens of billions of dollars.” Virginia’s governor called the blackout in his state its second-largest ever and warned that electricity might not be restored for a week.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904332804576536081445471562.html?mod=WSJEurope_hpp_LEFTTopStories

Private-equity shop Lone Star Funds and banks Wells Fargo & Co. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. are the winning bidders for Anglo Irish Bank Corp.’s hotly contested portfolio of U.S. commercial real-estate loans, according to people familiar with the matter. With a face value of around $9.5 billion, the Anglo Irish portfolio was one of the largest pools of commercial-property loans to hit the market since the downturn. The package offered debt related to some 250 properties, including marquee names ranging from the Apthorp, a landmark Manhattan residential building, to a Beverly Hills, Calif., shopping center to the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904875404576534871364291538.html?mod=WSJEUROPE_hpp_LEFTTopWhatNews

Developed nations from Japan to America are desperate for growth, but this tiny lake-filled Swiss canton is wrestling with a different problem: too much of it. Zug’s history of rock-bottom tax rates, for individuals and corporations alike, has brought it an A-list of multinational businesses. Luxury shops abound, government coffers are flush, and there are so many jobs that employers sometimes have a hard time finding people to fill them.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904875404576528123989551738.html?mod=WSJEUROPE_hpp_MIDDLETopNews

Two of Greece’s leading lenders, EFG Eurobank Ergasias SA and Alpha Bank SA, are expected to announce on Monday a tie-up to create the country’s largest banking company and one of the biggest in southeastern Europe, three people familiar with the deal said Saturday. “We are expecting an announcement Monday,” one person said. “This will be a friendly merger, with a view to creating an anchor bank for both Greece and southeast Europe and which will be one of the 25 largest banks in the euro zone.” The combined entity will have about €150 billion ($217 billion) in total assets—bigger than the current market leader National Bank of Greece SA—and about €80 billion in deposits.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904875404576534513124691014.html?mod=WSJEUROPE_hpp_LEFTTopWhatNews

Marketwatch.comLast month’s 117,000 expansion in nonfarm payrolls wasn’t even strong enough to meet population growth— and the August report may even be worse. Economists polled by MarketWatch are expecting the Labor Department on Friday to report just 46,000 jobs outside of the farm sector created during the month. If the consensus is anywhere near being correct, it would extend to four months a run of paltry job creation. And it’s this backdrop that is prompting President Barack Obama to deliver a major speech on Sept. 5 that in part will outline new initiatives to revive the flagging labor market.http://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobs-ism-reports-may-spark-more-recession-talk-2011-08-28

Economic conditions are not at the point now where the Federal Reserve should ease monetary policy further, James Bullard, the president of the St. Louis Fed, told MarketWatch in an interview. on Saturday. Bullard said he was not convinced that the economy would suffer in coming quarters, as many leading economists are predicting. “I think there are good reasons to be optimistic even though when you look around these days there is a lot of gloom and doom,” Bullard said.http://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds-bullard-sees-no-need-for-easing-2011-08-28

Reuters.comSpot gold fell more than 1 percent on Monday, reversing a 3.2-percent rally in the previous session, as investors faced with uncertainties on the U.S. Federal Reserve’s stimulus plans decided to take some money off the table. Cash gold fell as much as 1.2 percent to $1,806.29 an ounce, before recovering slightly to $1,815.59 by 0249 GMT. Prices lost more than 1 percent last week, snapping seven straight weeks of gains. U.S. gold gained 1.2 percent to $1,819.http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/29/us-markets-precious-idUSTRE7781Q420110829

Brent crude fell below $111 on Monday as oil refiners and terminals along the U.S. east coast weathered the worst of a tropical storm, easing fears of fuel supply disruptions in the world’s top oil consumer. Brent crude was down 71 cents at $110.65 a barrel as of 0227 GMT, posting its first fall in a week, and steepest since August 18. U.S. crude slipped 8 cents to $85.29, swinging between a high of $85.72 and $85.11.http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/29/us-markets-oil-idUSTRE77838320110829

Ben Bernanke did not prescribe a new dose of medicine for the ailing U.S. economy at this year’s central bank confab amid Wyoming’s Teton mountains, but he didn’t give it a clean bill of health, either. That should be a reminder for investors — if any needed one — that the U.S. economy remains fragile and will likely rivet attention on economic data due in the coming week, topped by the monthly jobs report. Such worries may add up to more volatility for the stock market, particularly if the week ends with data showing the pace of U.S. hiring slowed and the jobless rate, which exceeds 9 percent, increased.http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/28/businesspro-us-markets-global-weekahead-idUSTRE77P5WG20110828

The dollar is poised for its biggest monthly gain since May, reclaiming its status as a haven while Switzerland and Japan boost efforts to weaken their currencies. The greenback has appreciated 1.2 percent in August against a basket of the developed world’s nine most-traded exchange rates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That compares with a decline of 14 percent in the world’s reserve currency from this time last year through July. Demand for U.S. assets is rising even though the Federal Reserve has pledged to keep its benchmark interest rate near zero through mid-2013 and Standard & Poor’s cut the nation’s credit rating from AAA. The two other currencies considered havens in times of financial and political strife — the Swiss franc and yen — are under siege by their governments and central banks after strengthening to records.http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-28/dollar-undervalued-in-purchasing-parity-as-investors-seek-shelter-from-s-p.html

Cnbc.comSingapore’s economy could get a shock if the U.S. falls into recession, warned both ratings agency Fitch and investment bank, Daiwa Capital Markets. According to a Fitch report released Friday, if there is a recession in the U.S., Singapore “would experience the largest cumulative negative shock to GDP of 4.1 percentage points from 2011 to 2013.” This is because Singapore’s trade with the U.S. accounts for about 20 percent of its GDP– the largest exposure among emerging Asian economies. http://www.cnbc.com/id/44284606

Following weeks of heavy losses for banking stocks across Europe, the Sunday Times in the UK reported Sunday that European officials are working on a “radical plan” to prevent a fresh pan-European credit crunch. Without citing sources, the paper said officials from the European Central Bank and European Commission are considering offering central guarantees over certain types of debt issued by banks. http://www.cnbc.com/id/44303970

In Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Saturday, Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank, was due to give a speech to a meeting of policy makers hosted by the Federal Reserve. As he prepared to speak, the euro zone faced huge problems. So as Trichet prepared for his speech, he turned to the history books and gave a master class on how to say something while actually saying nothing at all.http://www.cnbc.com/id/44304045

USAtoday.comShort sales are increasing as a percentage of home sales in many states, helping some neighborhoods and homeowners avoid the more devastating impacts of foreclosures. Short sales—when lenders allow financially strapped borrowers to sell homes for less than their unpaid mortgage— accounted for 12% of home sales nationwide in the second quarter. That’s up from 10% in the same period last year, says researcher RealtyTrac. The increases were sharper in some states, including California, Nevada, Michigan, Georgia and Colorado, the data show. In Colorado, short sales were 17% of all sales in the second quarter, up from 10% a year earlier. In California, they made up 25% of sales, vs. 18%. http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/story/2011-08-28/Number-of-short-sales-on-the-rise/50165284/1

Washingtonpost.comWhile the Dow Jones industrial average and the unemployment rate get more attention, the shoppers outside a Wal-Mart in Northern Virginia offered a taste of what some economists believe is the more immediate reason that the U.S. economy may be on the verge of another recession. Americans are still spooked. More than two years after the recession’s official end, people are driving their cars a year longer, holding back on jewelry and furniture, and swapping brand names for cheaper store brands at the supermarket. More ominously, the once sturdy optimism of Americans appears to have crumbled, according to one key measure. Breaking from precedent, Americans no longer believe they will make more money next year than this year, according to the University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers. These expectations used to rebound after recessions; this time they didn’t.http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/consumer-fears-put-economy-on-the-brink/2011/08/26/gIQAVbzclJ_story.html

Telegraph.co.ukGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel no longer has enough coalition votes in the Bundestag to secure backing for Europe’s revamped rescue machinery, threatening a consitutional crisis in Germany and a fresh eruption of the euro debt saga. Mrs Merkel has cancelled a high-profile trip to Russia on September 7, the crucial day when the package goes to the Bundestag and the country’s constitutional court rules on the legality of the EU’s bail-out machinery.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/8728628/Euro-bail-out-in-doubt-as-hysteria-sweeps-Germany.html

The number of Britons forced to delay retirement into their late 60s and beyond has doubled over the past year as the rising cost of living hits home, a major study has revealed. Worryingly, one in seven over-65s say they still do not know when they plan to retire, while a third of those aged between 45 and 64 are unsure about when they can stop working, the research found. Squeezed householders have been left with little choice but to tear up their plans for retiring at 65 or earlier, the analysis said.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/pensions/8728560/More-people-having-to-delay-retirement.html

The proportion of our income going on mortgage payments is at its lowest level for 12 years.The typical mortgage payments for a new borrower both first-time buyers and home movers – at the historic average loan to value ratio stood at 28pc in the second quarter of 2011: according to research by Halifax, this is the lowest level since 1999 and down by almost half from a peak of 48pc of average disposable earnings in late 2007. There has also been a modest decline over the past year from 30pc in 2010, reducing mortgage payments relative to earnings furtherbelow the average of 37pc recorded over the past 27 years.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/borrowing/mortgages/8725676/Mortgages-at-their-most-affordable-since-1999.html

Independent.co.ukThe president of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, used one of the last major speeches of his tenure as a rejoinder to American traders and economists predicting the break-up of the eurozone. Side-stepping more pressing issues of how the ECB is responding to the continent’s sovereign debt crisis, Mr Trichet told fellow central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, that the US, too, was a regionally diverse economy held together under a single currency.http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/trichet-urges-eu-nations-to-work-together-2345671.html

Smh.com.auHouse prices in England and Wales ticked down on the month in August and weak consumer spending is likely to weigh on demand and prices for the rest of the year, property data firm Hometrack said on Monday. House prices fell 0.1 percent on the month in August, leaving them 3.7 per cent below the August 2010 level, Hometrack said. “Weak consumer sentiment, pressure on household incomes and the uncertain economic outlook are likely to see demand weaken further over the remainder of the year,” it said. http://www.smh.com.au/business/world-business/uk-house-prices-dip-in-august-20110829-1jh35.html#ixzz1WOPt99Gg

Xinhuanet.comSince the beginning of 2011, China has taken a series of measures to cool rising prices, such as introducing a prudent monetary policy, boosting supply and containing inrrational demand while establishing a price control mechanism. However, it will be quite difficult to meet the government’s annual inflation rate control target, which is around 4 percent for the year. Zhang Ping, the head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top economic planner, called for all macro control policies in force to be fully implemented, as “it could be difficult to keep the consumer price index (CPI) growth below the government’s target this year.” http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-08/29/c_131080266.htm

South Korean Finance Minister said on Monday that it could cut economic growth outlook for this year, citing heightened external uncertainties. “The government now sticks to the current economic outlook for this year, but I think the accurate forecast could be taken again later. Overall, there are downside risks on economic growth,” Minister Bahk Jae-wan said in a forum held in central Seoul. His remarks came after the finance ministry revised down its economic growth outlook for this year to 4.5 percent from the prior 5 percent in June 30 when it announced its plan for the second-half economic policy management. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/business/2011-08/29/c_131081236.htm

South Korea’s current account surplus widened to a nine-month high in July due to brisk exports and heavy foreign buying of local securities, the central bank said Monday. The surplus reached 4.94 billion U.S. dollars in July, up from a revised 2.03 billion dollars tallied for the previous month, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said in a statement. For the first seven months of this year, the accumulative surplus amounted to a combined 13.04 billion dollars. The July figure was the largest since Oct. 2010 when it recorded a 5.11 billion dollars surplus, and the current account balance has remained in the black for the 17th consecutive month in July.http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/business/2011-08/29/c_131081021.htm

Cs.com.cnThe Russian Ministry of Economic Development expects Russia’s 2011 GDP to grow by 4.1 percent, lower than a previous forecast of 4.2 percent, Deputy Minister of Economic Development Andrei Klepach told reporters on Saturday. Klepach explained the revise was based on the weak data in the first half of this year, as the GDP growth in the first six months only reached 3.7 percent. “If you try to anticipate the yearly figure by extrapolating from this one (3.7 percent), we will have a 3.8-3.9 percent growth by the end of the year,” Klepach said.“But we still presume that there is potential for growth to be tapped in the second half of this year, and the first half’s figures could be recalculated as well,” he added. http://www.cs.com.cn/english/ei/201108/t20110829_3033370.html

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Saturday that the world risks a 7-year recession due to slowdown and debt troubles in America, Europe and Japan, urging debt-ridden countries resort to drastic austerity. It still needs time for eurozone countries to harvest fruits for their economic and financial reforms. Along with shadows of slowdown and debt crisis in major economies, the world economy may witness “seven lean years,” Schaeuble said in a closing speech for the 4th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting for Economic Sciences held from Aug. 23 to 27. Organizers held on Saturday the last round of discussion at St. Gallen University in Switzerland, one of most famous university in Europe for economic studies.http://www.cs.com.cn/english/ei/201108/t20110829_3033365.html

Themoscowtimes.comRussia for the first time is selling weapons to Bahrain after Britain and France banned deliveries of security equipment to the Gulf monarchy because of its crackdown on protesters. State arms traderRosoboronexport says it wants more business in Bahrain. The country is selling AK-103 Kalashnikovs with grenade launchers and ammunition for tens of millions of dollars to Bahrain, according to a person close to the Russian Defense Ministry who declined to be identified because the information is not public. In February, France and Britain revoked export licenses for security equipment that could be used to quash internal unrest in Bahrain after government forces shot dead several protesters. At least 30 people were killed in this year’s uprising in Bahrain, a U.S. ally situated between Qatar and Saudi Arabia that is home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet.http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/reports-of-small-arms-being-sold-to-bahrain/442780.html#ixzz1WOSQqcG9

The SEC, which recently launched a whistle blower program that offers financial rewards for people who report securities violations, now has one of its own attorneys alleging that the agency destroyed thousands of documents involving banks and hedge funds, Matt Taibbi reported.The allegations come from SEC attorney Darcy Flynn, who is a 13-year veteran with the agency. According to the report, Flynn claims the SEC has been destroying records relating to the investigations of financial criminals since 1993.Some of the records that were allegedly destroyed involve Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Lehman Brothers, Deutsche Bank, SAC Capital and Madoff.http://www.businessinsider.com/sec-attorney-claims-the-agency-destroyed-thousands-of-investigations-involving-banks-hedge-funds-2011-8

"It was reported yesterday that the Big Twelve, the Super Congress have received, cumulatively, SIXTY FIVE MILLION DOLLARS over the last few years by the various Special Interest. With these observations of the continuation of Fiat money & Bank ownership of the world, it is not hard to predict in advance that these twelve will turn the screws on the people as directed by the banks and their Illuminati Masters. They are, after all, WHORES, getting paid from many places and directions all at once including their paychecks from the people. So we must wait for the demise of the Old before receiving the New. If they, led by the FED, have a completely free hand it could easily take a year or two as they fill each and every hole in the dyke with wads of thin air monopoly money not caring about the consequences to the economy, the country, the currency or the people. This possibility can not be easily discounted as it is exactly what they have done to date. What I see now are Banks on the verge of collapse in several countries any one of which could trigger the ultimate financial earthquake due to intertwined derivatives, CDS‘s, Insurance and uncollectible Sovereign Debt being carried as assets."

That's the crux of the problem...the debt that the taxpayers will NEVER be able to repay...let alone service. Debt is OK as long as it doesn't become too much to service. It's the exponential increasing of debt that is killing us. Along with a stagnant salary. What happens when the masses realize we're ALL in way over our heads? When they say fuck it...why bother? The young people don't like being saddled by "our" debt. They REALLY think it's unfair for them to pay SS and Medicare payments for "us". They're delusional. Someday they too will "retire"...or want to at least. We've got social problems caused by a public policy of "forced diversity". The world's a fucking mess. And I think it's gonna blow...soon...because war has traditionally been the only way out. In days past, a simply revolution or civil war would do. But now that we're "all the same", WW is the name of the game. I wouldn't want to be Chinese right now. And they're losing MAY push us over the edge nuking the planet. People suck...it's detrimental to all letting them breed to too high a level!